No arrests following drug sweep at Rome High on Wednesday; pill bottle with suspect pot found in parking lot between vehicles.

From Rome Police report (narrative): No arrests were made during the drug sweep at Rome High on Wednesday morning. Here’s a summary of some of the activity, including the discovery of suspect pot in a pill bottle on the ground between two vehicles:

ON WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13TH 2019 I, OFFICER (JOSH) GLOVER, PARTICIPATED IN A SCHOOL SEARCH WITH MY CANINE PARTNER AND MULTIPLE OTHER CANINE TEAMS FROM THE SURROUNDING COUNTIES.

DURING THE SCHOOL SEARCH CANINE TEAMS WERE SPLIT INTO TWO GROUPS SO THAT ONE GROUP COULD CONDUCT A SEARCH OF BOTH THE PARKING LOTS AND CLASSROOMS AT THE SAME TIME.

DURING THE SEARCH OF THE PARKING LOT, MYSELF AND SEVERAL OTHER K9s BEGAN PERFORMING A FREE AIR SNIFF AROUND VEHICLES IN THE FRONT LOT OF THE SCHOOL FOLLOWED BY MOVING TO THE REAR PARKING LOT.

AS THIS OCCURRED, I WAS ADVISED THAT SGT. ZUKER WITH THE CEDARTOWN POLICE DEPARTMENT HAD LOCATED A SMALL WHITE PILL BOTTLE OF SUSPECTED MARIJUANA. HOWEVER, NO CHARGES WERE TO BE FILED REGARDING THE DRUG FIND DUE TO THE ITEM BEING FOUND LYING ON THE GROUND BETWEEN TWO VEHICLES.

DUE TO NOT BEING ABLE TO MAKE A DEFINITE DETERMINATION OF WHOM THE OWNER OF THE SUBSTANCE WAS, IT WAS SIMPLY SEIZED TO BE REMOVED FROM SCHOOL PROPERTY. AFTER LOCATING THE SUBSTANCE, I TOOK POSSESSION OF THE ITEM AS I HAD ALREADY ADVISED ALL OUTSIDE AGENCY HANDLERS THAT I WOULD TAKE CARE OF ANYTHING THAT WAS FOUND.

THE PILL BOTTLE CONTAINING SUSPECT MARIJUANA HAS BEEN SUBMITTED INTO ROME PD EVIDENCE FOR DESTRUCTION AT THIS TIME.

UPDATE, Thursday morning:

Four parents have shared this message sourced to Rome High School this Thursday morning:

“Rome High: Thanks to our students and staff for their cooperation in a routine drug search. The process was smooth due to our students, staff and RPD!”

UPDATE, Wednesday evening:

Rome Police — in coordination with Rome High — did perform a random sweep on Wednesday using K9s. Additional dogs and officers from other law enforcement agencies also were used to minimize the time spent at the school. Such sweeps are conducted on occasion, says Assistant Police Chief Debbie Burnett.

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The first text arrived at 8:57 a.m. Wednesday, just as we concluded the Hometown Headlines Radio Edition on WRGA 98.7 FM. It read, “Code Red at Rome High. What is that?”

Our first notes to Rome City Schools and its media contractor went out by 9 a.m. with no formal response. A second attempt stated that all that was available was the above school note. But since midmorning, we’ve continued to hear from parents who describe notes from their RHS students about a three-hour lock down, drug dogs and such.

Several shared the above note from the school sent at 3:38 p.m. Wednesday, six hours after it all began. It reads: “Rome High school conducted a safety drill today. All students were safe and secure, and returned to a normal schedule within 2 hours.”

Other schools in the area have a practice of notifying parents — and students — of safety drills. We have not been told of any head’s up in this case.

We’ll continue to work with school and law enforcement sources this evening for updates.